NaNoWriMo 2010 - True Love's Kiss [ 7 / 10 ]
Title: True Love's Kiss
Rating: M
Fandom: ORIGINAL
Warnings: ANGST, domestic violence, m/m sexual relations, vampirism, suicidal thoughts, suicide attempt
Summary: Jonathan Grant is a haunted soul. After being born deaf, he grew up in a normal home until his parents died and he was sent into the foster care system, moving from abusive household to abusive household until the age of eighteen, when he fell in love for the first time. However, these supposed lovers were no better than the abusive foster parents he had lived with for so long and soon he found himself trapped, time and time again, under the cruel hand of those meant to love him. He came to believe that no one cared and that there was only one way to escape the pain; to truly be free. But there was someone who saw what was happening to him, someone who was determined to rescue him from his dark world at all costs. Jonathan must now decide if he will take this chance to live a new life, one so completely different from what he has known for so long, or finish the job that his "savior" had interrupted
Within a week of that first hunt, Jonathan had all but mastered his new senses and understood most of what there was no know about his new anatomy. He now knew why it was he was able to see so clearly in the dark and why the fangs grew out so long. He knew why his fingernails would grow to such long lengths and strengthen when he was hungry and the reason why, even if he searched for it, he could feel no pulse under his own skin. At first he hadn’t known what to think. He was a vampire.
But the man from the diner, Decimus as he was called, had made sure to take the time to explain everything, including the origins of the mythological creatures and why it was they had evolved the way they did. He explained that their kind were so small in number not because they were especially viciously hunted but because it was difficult to sire new ones. Apparently there was a government in place for vampires that included police forces and politicians and, in some of the older cities, some going so far as to call themselves nobility. It was very fascinating.
Some nights after a hunt, they would sit for hours discussing everything there was to know about vampires and what they truly were compared to hundreds of variations of their myths. Decimus would talk and gesture and Jon would watch him carefully, hanging onto every words, his initial fear about what he had become fading over time. He tried to communicate with the other man with sign language at first but when that yielded only frustration, he was given a notebook and a mechanical pencil to write his thoughts down with so that they could interact more readily. Jonathan hadn’t been able to remember someone who actually wanted to hear his opinions and thoughts on anything before Decimus.
As time passed, he steadily became more and more comfortable being around the other man, despite his size and slightly rugged appearance. He never once touched Jon with any intention to hurt and he moved slowly enough that he was able to see it coming long before there was any contact. He was careful about what kind of jokes he said and was always making sure that Jon had plenty to drink and wasn’t hurting anywhere. His concern was sweet and touching.
Eventually Jonathan was given a room to sleep in upstairs that was, like all the others, sealed from the inside against any sliver of sunlight. It was a fairly large room with a comfortable full sized bed, a beautiful dresser, a desk with a lamp and a small stack of notebooks on it, and a closet that already had some of his clothes from Guy’s house hanging up in it. There was the odd picture frame about the room but they were empty of photos and Jon was surprised by the fact that there was a small fire place in the room with a log already on it as if it was just waiting for him to light it. Decimus had explained then that the home they were in now was a genuine Victorian, he and Paeonius had watched being built then bought within five years of its completed construction. It had boggled his mind for a while.
More time passed and in the weeks that followed Jonathan felt whatever dregs remained of the abusive touch he had been so used to fading away. While his dreams were still full of painful memories and sometimes he woke in the middle of the day, breathing hard and feeling the phantom pains of a particularly vicious beating or truly brutal rape, after he had calmed down and taken a drink of some sort of animal blood he felt much better and was able to continue with his day without much trouble. Sometimes, when he awoke so shaken from his dreams, Decimus or Paeonius were there to sit with him and rub his back until he had calmed down enough to go back to sleep, their kind touch helping to chase away the memories of only pain coming from the hands of lovers.
Tonight was no different than any other night so far in his new life as a vampire. He awoke just as the sun set and got dressed leisurely, not worrying about being downstairs by a certain time or dressing a certain way or else face a new beating. His clothes this time were simply a pair of dark washed jeans and a white dress shirt that he wore underneath a sweater vest and a tie. On his feet, he wore a pair of brown boating shoes that were extremely comfortable and he had a matching brown belt looped through his belt loops.
As soon as he was dressed, he made his way to the bathroom and carefully combed his unruly black hair back into place with a dollop of hair gel, the shame he had once felt at seeing himself in the mirror now replaced with pride as he looked at his own healthy face and filled out body. He still was not completely self confident -it would take more than getting a handsome face back to fix that- but he was getting more confidence every day he went without seeing cruel words being spoken about him or seeing sneers on the faces of others.
Once he was satisfied with his appearance, Jon emerged from his room to join his roommates downstairs for breakfast, not at all surprised to see that they were already sitting at the table and chatting about something over their glasses of animal blood. A third glass was set out for him at the third chair of the small table so he took it as an invitation to sit, purposely ignoring the conversation as it clearly had nothing to do with him just yet. Instead he tried to guess where both men were heading to tonight.
Judging by the scrubs Paeonius was wearing tonight, he was heading to the hospital where he worked as a trauma specialist. While there was no especially strong smell around him right now, Jon was familiar with the scents of the sterilizing agents and human blood that he often came home smelling like. It made him curious as to whether or not the vampire was ever tempted to switch his diet from animal to human but he was a little too intimidated by the figure that was the old vampire to even come close to questioning him about something so simple.
But it was Decimus that had Jonathan really curious as, unlike his friend, he didn’t seem to have any human job lined up to go to every night. Usually he either went hunting or he stayed home, telling Jon stories about his life in the many centuries he had been around in. Once in a while he could go out into the back yard for a smoke but otherwise would stick primarily to wherever Jonathan was inside the house. His dress sense was always casual but more than once the young vampire had been privy to seeing the tattoos that adorned the older man’s strong shoulders, chest and waist, all of them marks he had gotten to remember the years he had lived by.
A set of fingers snapped in front of his eyes, startling him out of his thoughts, and he looked up at Decimus’ face to see the older man was smiling at him as if he had done something funny. Immediately Jon felt as close to a blush as was possible coming on and turned back to his drink, keeping his eyes on the table as he finished his breakfast. Of all the times to get caught…
If Paeonius found anything especially funny about the situation Jon didn’t notice him saying anything though when he got up to leave he leaned in next to Decimus and said something into his ear that made the other man press his pouty lips into a thin line and his dark blond brows lower in frustration. It was a facial expression that was not all that common on the man’s face but the few times it did happen, from what Jon could tell, it was usually because something was said that he really didn’t approve of. It was times like these that made the young vampire glad that he didn’t have the ability to hear anything as it avoided such situations more often than not.
He got up as he finished his drink and brought the glass to the sink where he rinsed it out and used the next glass of water to rinse out his own mouth. He was going to go upstairs and brush his teeth in a moment but he wanted to make sure that he wouldn’t stain the brush unnecessarily with left over blood by rinsing it out first. He didn’t notice Decimus getting up from his chair until the much larger body of the man was standing close enough behind him he could easily feel the other’s presence. He stiffened and stayed where he was, waiting for the other to make a move.
He half expected the hand to touch his shoulder and turn him around and the other hand to cup his cheek and make their eyes meet. His hands immediately went to find support from the sink he was leaning against, his natural inclination now being to lean away from the invasion of personal space since he couldn’t look down or away. If Decimus noticed this he said nothing. His expression grew serious as his grey eyes searched for something in Jon’s face. The very action made him nervous but he had trouble assessing if the nervousness was in a good or a bad sense. It had been so long since he felt anything close to a good nervousness he had nothing to really compare it to.
Decimus was saying something to him, his words themselves being formed oddly as if he was speaking with accent. It took Jon a moment to decipher what they were and even when he did he wasn’t sure how to response. “Are you happy?” It was a difficult question to answer. Happiness hadn’t really been an attainable goal for him since he was ten years old and for almost twenty years he had felt that something so simple was out of his reach and would always be. Was he happier here? Yes, he was. So far he didn’t have to spend each day, worrying about the slightest slip up in some kind of twisted protocol leading to another round of whips, chains, beatings or rape. He was treated with complete respect here, as if he was an equal.
But was he happy? He wasn’t really sure. As kindly as he was treated each day there was always some voice in the back of his mind telling him that at any moment the other shoe was going to drop and somehow he would be thrust back into that dark world of pain and suffering for the rest of eternity. He kept expecting the next touch to his cheek to become a harsh slap at the last minute or the next kind word said to him to turn into some ugly, twisted insult. He kept expecting to go back to his room at night and find someone else there, waiting for him to return, so they could force him down onto that bed and take their pleasure from his unwilling body again and again until the time they paid for was up. He was so close to freedom he could taste it but he was afraid to reach out and touch it. He thought that if he let himself cling as little too tightly to this fantasy he had thought unattainable, it would crumble between his fingers and he would be left with nothing but a shattered hope and dream.
So he nodded, despite his uncertainty, and Decimus seemed to accept his answer, even if he didn’t step back or let him go. Jon stayed still, just watching, hoping he hadn’t said something wrong that might cause the man to get angry with him. Instead his answer seemed to pull Decimus even close to him, so close their bodies brushed together and their noses almost touched. Even with all the years of abuse he had lived with he knew what such a gesture meant and swallowed nervously. He knew this could either end very badly or completely in his favor.
In his humble opinion, however, the real answer was that it was neither outcome. When those pouty lips met his for the first time, applying just the slightest amount of pressure, he had been unsure how to respond. He didn’t pull away but he did give the smallest pressure back to show that the kiss was not entirely unwelcome. How was he to know that just the slightest peck in return would have Decimus’ strong arms come up to wrap around his body and hold him tightly up against the other body, both restricting his movements and gently holding him?
His first instinct was to fight against being restrained but he was able to quell that inner voice by wrapping his arms around his larger lover and holding him in place while he initiated the second kiss and allowed this one to be more forceful. He let his fingers cling to the shirt on the other’s back and somehow find leverage in the short, dirty blond hair. He kept their bodies pressed together and might have let out a little moan if he felt the vibrations correctly. This was a kind of field of expertise with him, all things considered.
Their kisses became small fights for dominance and their hands soon took to exploring the bodies beneath each other’s clothes. Jon felt Decimus pick him up and set him on the counter before breaking the kiss just long enough to pull his sweater vest off of him and start working at the tie next, those soft pouty lips instead moving to press kisses to his cheeks and down his neck while he was slowly being undressed on the kitchen counter. His fingers twitched in the once Roman soldier’s hair and ran through the golden strands in encouragement but did not participate otherwise.
This didn’t seem to bother Decimus, who picked him up as soon as his shirt was pulled out of the waist band of the his pants and his belt was discarded on the floor. He was a little too lost in the sensations he was feeling against his skin that he didn’t notice how his legs were guided to wrap around a strong waist and how easily he was picked up and carried to the living room. It had been far too long and his body was more than happy to give itself over to the pleasure, despite his mind’s earlier wariness. He could feel that flicker of hope growing a little more with each sensual kiss.
How exactly they got upstairs to his bedroom, Jonathan wasn’t sure. All he knew was that he was easily deposited on the bed and Decimus was carefully unbuttoning the shirt he was wearing, his cool fingers touching every inch of flesh it possibly could come into contact with as if he was worshipping it while Jon writhed beneath him, allowing soft little moans to escape him as he closed his eyes and let himself feel everything that there was to feel. Perhaps if he had his eyes open, he would have seen Decimus’ telling him that he was the most beautiful thing he had seen in well over two hundred years as he got the last of the buttons undone and tried to push the dress shirt off as far as it would go with the body wearing it laying down. Not that he would have believed the words, of course, but it might have been nice for him to see someone saying good things about him for once. Instead, his eyes opened when he was made to sit up and the shirt was stripped from him.
But at that point, enough was enough for the vampire inside of him. He might be the smaller male between the two of them but he was still a male. He pushed Decimus back, his human mind a little surprised at how easily the other complied to the minor demand, and pounced to press his own kisses to the gruffer man’s cheeks and neck, his hands going to strip him of his own tops. The jacket the other was wearing came off simply enough but the t-shirt was a hassle. He growled in frustration as he realized that he would have to pull away from the other man’s skin to get it off if he didn’t want to tear it. He hoped Decimus was not particularly attached to it.
He could feel the laughter bubbling in his soon to be lover’s chest when his teeth grew longer and his finger nails lengthened just enough to make them sharp enough to cut through the thin material with ease without leaving too many marks on the steadily warming skin underneath. As soon as the material was in enough tatters, it was quickly and carelessly tossed aside. Jon was far too eager to get to what he knew would be a perfect, powerful body underneath.
With his vampiric senses brought to the surface and the animal within him allowed to come one step closer to complete control, Jonathan found it difficult to keep the urge to bite he man at bay as he looked over what was already revealed to him as his prize for the night. He had to admit that compared to his former lovers, Decimus was more masculine than most of them as he was actually confident in himself and proud without the arrogance. The fact that he was much more of a sight to behold, at least as willing as he was to admit it, certainly didn’t deter from this decision and the heady smell of his natural musk, amplified by his inhuman sense of smell, made Jon’s already tenuous control slip a little more.
The fact that Decimus’ body was more muscular than he had had the pleasure to see in a long time had him anxious to run his hands all over those firm muscles and the light tan to the blond man’s skin, a remnant of his time as a soldier in ancient times, only made the bold color of the tattoos on his skin stand out all the more. The light dusting of blond hair on his chest all but begged him to run his fingers through it and the soft trail that lead downward over his smooth and taut stomach towards his belt line drew Jon’s steadily reddening eyes towards what he knew would be a grand prize indeed.
He looked up at Decimus’ handsome face, only to see the absolutely filthy smile that was spread across it with his own fangs lengthening and his grey eyes half filled with the inhuman crimson that showed them as one of the nightwalkers. “Come on now,” the man was saying, spreading his legs and carefully undoing the button of his jeans, “it’s not nice to not finish what you’ve started, Jonathan.” There was no question what this night was going to result in. Despite the fear of his human mind and the shame already starting to accumulate, the vampire in control knew what it wanted and no trembling human was going to stop it from getting just that. Immediately Jon pounced on his soon to be lover again and kissed him hungrily while undoing the zipper to his jeans, all the while ignoring how their fangs clashed together and tore at their lips, turning their kisses bloody. Any pain they might have felt was promptly forgotten.
As soon as the zipper was down, Jon stood and pulled his lover up with him so he could get the last two pieces of clothing keeping him from his prize off of the gorgeous body before him. He didn’t hesitate to kneel and tug on both the pants and boxers underneath them, letting the garments fall the ground before carefully pulling the socks off each foot as Decimus stepped out of them. When he turned to face the man he was met immediately with one of the most handsome erections he had ever seen and he was fairly sure whatever scraps of humanity he still had in him left at the sight of it. If he were to look into a mirror, his eyes would have been a bright blood red and his fangs would have been longer than human teeth by a good half inch. Even if he was able to close his mouth naturally he doubted he could have without effort.
He didn’t think as he crawled a little closer, his long fingernails clicking against the floor as he crawled closer to the other man, his red eyes only looking up when he was close enough to lick the head let his lips brush down the length of it, the very smell driving him mad. He might have considered trying to suckle on it had a hand not caught his hair and forced him to stand, although it was more by stern suggestion than any painful force. He allowed himself to be pulled to his feet and made to sit on the bed as the remains of his own clothes, including his socks and shoes, were removed from him, leaving him as bare as his partner. He might have moaned at being so exposed and whimpered in need like a bitch in heat but he was far more concerned with the sight of the other man’s eyes almost glowing red in the dim light of the room and the long fangs likewise forcing his mouth to remain open at least a little bit. His now clawed hands reached above his head and his legs spread themselves in an effort to better display his body for those eyes to see.
There were more words of praise, more descriptions of his beauty that compared him to some of the fairest humans to have ever captured the attention of the gods. However these words were never heard by the younger vampire though even if he could hear them, he would not have understood them as they were not in a language that was actually spoke in modern day times. Instead of climbing onto the bed to join his mate, Decimus instead went to the bedside dresser to retrieve a few things he had stored there in case something like this came about. Jon had not known about them but it hardly mattered now. All he wanted was their bodies to be joined as one.
Decimus quickly found what he needed and set those items aside as he finally climbed on the bed, straddling his near desperate mate, the metal of the dog tags he still wore shining with the dim light the room was filled with. Jon’s eyes caught sight of them for just a moment but he didn’t pay them too much heed. There was a much more appetizing sight for him than simple metal jewelry. He reached up with his clawed hands, intending to bring the other down to kiss him, but his own hands were caught and pinned down, something that had the human in him writhing in panic but the vampire within him pleased at this show of superior strength and proof of dominance. Their lips met in another kiss where there was more gnashing of fangs and tearing of lips but their supernatural bodies were able to heal these minor wounds within seconds. It was the actions that were coming that would take more time to become heal later.
Their love making was rough and animalistic but whatever pain was involved was canceled out by pleasure on both sides. Jonathan was barely able to in touch with his body through it as the animal within him moaned and whimpered and groaned and growled in pleasure as their body was pounded rather heavily into the mattress. It was reminiscent of that last night he had spent with Guy and had there not been gentle touches throughout, he might have lost himself in the dark memories from not all that long ago. The vampire inside didn’t seem to care too much.
Once both men had spent themselves at least once and their barely beating hearts were going into overdrive by comparison to the natural state, the two vampires were covered in a fine sheen of sweat and exhaustion forced them to lie down, at least for a little bit. The bed being designed for a man and a woman instead of two grown men made lying down a bit difficult but after some shuffling, it was managed. Out of habit, Jon took the side of the bed against the wall and curled away from his new lover, not bothering to cover himself with blankets. He expected to be left alone now that the other man had gotten what he wanted. It was what all the others had done.
But Decimus didn’t leave him be. Out of seemingly nowhere, Jon felt a strong arm wrap around his slimmer waist and pull him back against a much larger body, holding him close as he was spooned from behind. There were lips moving against his shoulder, no doubt saying something, but as he was not able to see them, he didn’t understand what words were being said. As his breathing slowed and his heart rate returned to normal, he could feel the gentle touch of the other man’s hand against the skin of his chest, the fingers caressing him gently. He didn’t understand what was going on. None of his other lovers had made to touch him afterward… not one.
Then the lips that had been speaking stopped and pressed soft sweet kisses to his shoulders before a slightly cold nose nuzzled at the back of his neck for a moment while the larger body settled in behind him. There was so much affection in the action and sense of contentment Jon could feel a lump forming in his throat. Was this what it felt like to be loved? After all of these years of pain and darkness it was only in death -technically- that he could find love in the arms of another person? He pulled his arms closer to his chest and closed his eyes in an effort to force the tears away. He didn’t understand why he suddenly felt such a strong urge to cry.
He must have let out a sob or something, though because one moment he was curled on himself with a strong, solid body behind him just holding him and the next he was made to lay partly on his back and he was looking up at the concerned face of the man who had given him as much pleasure as he had taken. A large, somewhat calloused hand brushed the hair at his temples back, no doubt to push some stray strands back into place and Jon leaned into the touch gently. It did nothing to make his tears stop though and when a few escaped his eyes and trailed down his cheek, that same hand carefully brushed them away. “Why are you crying?” he saw Decimus ask him. How could he explain when he had only his hands to explain himself with anymore?
He felt another choked sob escape him but he made himself smile for the other as he brought his hands up, making himself go through the motions to say how he felt. He asked through his hands why Decimus chose to be so nice to him after their time together. At the other man’s look of confusion he tried to explain, again through his hands, that he was always left alone, before now, as soon as his partner had gotten what they wanted from him. He wanted to know why Decimus was different.
For just a moment, in the dimness of the room, Jon felt a shiver run up his spine as he saw a flash of anger cross the older man’s features but as quickly as the anger was there it was gone again. Instead of even looking angry with him, something close to pity filled Decimus’ eyes as he leaned in and pressed a soft kiss to Jon’s lips before pulling back enough to let the other see his lips. At least he was a fast enough learner to know that Jon was a lip reader and not actually able to hear. “Because when two people love each other,” he said clearly, “after they indulge in sex they hold each other and fall asleep in one another’s arms. I love you so I’m going to hold you while we doze for a while. Is that okay?”
Jonathan let the rest of his tears fall but through them he felt a smile bubbling up to. He was loved. Finally he was loved and he could tell it wasn’t a lie. No man could lie to him in both action and words and Decimus’ actions more than reinforced his words. Jon reached up and pulled the older man down again, holding him tightly and pressing quick, thankful kisses along the other’s neck. He didn’t care of the sudden addition of weight was crushing his chest. He had what he had always wanted and he found it in the arms of man who he had only seen once in a diner one night that had seemed so very long ago. He was still worried that he would end up jinxing it somehow but he didn’t care about that now. He was truly loved.